


Somebody Likes a Math Geek

by mldrgrl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, MSR, Romance, post ep: millennium
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 03:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15258729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mldrgrl/pseuds/mldrgrl
Summary: Just a little bit of post-Millennium fluff





	Somebody Likes a Math Geek

Mulder expected a knock on his door the next morning, he just didn’t expect it so early.  He opened the door with a sheepish look on his face, smears of shaving cream on his cheeks and bare chest.  He’d intended to prove he was capable of functioning like normal, even with the use of one arm, but obviously he’d failed.  He couldn’t even button his jeans all the way, let alone shave. He didn’t know what he was thinking.

 

“What were you thinking?” Scully asked, clearly reading his mind.  She dropped a white paper bag he knew contained bagels from the corner deli onto his table.

 

“I thought I could manage,” he grumbled.  “You’re early.”

 

“It’s already nine.”  She took his arm (the good one) and led him towards his bedroom.  “Let’s get you cleaned up. Did you take your meds yet?”

 

He shook his head.  She chastised him with her eyes and then turned her disapproving glare to the state of the bathroom.  There was shaving cream on the mirror and the knobs to turn on the faucet. A large puddle surrounded the base of the sink.  Wet towels and yesterday’s clothes were strewn about the floor.

 

“Mulder,” she said, and stopped at his name.  She didn’t have to go on, it was obvious neither of them knew what he’d been thinking.

 

“I hear beard is the new black.”

 

“Wait here.”

 

She was gone maybe two minutes.  When she came back, her jacket was off and the sleeves of her baby blue sweater were pushed up past her elbows.  She had a glass of water with her and a painkiller in her hand, which she made him take before she inspected the sling that was holding the weight of his injured arm.

 

“Sit down,” she ordered, pointing to the toilet.

 

Curious as to her agenda, he obediently lowered the lid on the toilet and took a seat.  Scully grabbed a towel from the rack against the wall and dropped it over the puddle at the sink, nudging it into place with the toe of her boot.  She rifled through the rest of the haphazardly folded towels until she come out with a washcloth which she soaked in warm water. He closed his eyes when she cleaned his face and chest.  The gentle swipe of the washcloth against his skin was unexpected.

 

Mulder opened his eyes when she finished and rubbed his hand against his damp chin as she rinsed the cloth.  The day-old stubble rasped against his palm and itched his skin annoyingly. 

 

“Where’s your razor?” Scully asked.

 

“Cabinet,” he answered.  “I hadn’t made it that far.”

 

She opened the medicine cabinet and took out his razor.  He watched her wash her hands and then wet the razor with interest.  When she started shaking the can of shaving cream, he raised his brows.

 

“What are you planning?” he asked.

 

“You need a shave, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

She pumped out too much foam into her hand and he was unable to protest before she started lathering his cheeks and jaw.  He had to press his lips shut and then grimaced as she drew the cream around his mouth. He relaxed a little when she turned to rinse her hands.

 

“Do you even have any experience with this?” he asked, trying not to move his lips as he spoke. 

 

“Sure I do,” she answered, standing in front of him with the razor poised at the ready.  “It’s common to shave a corpse dur-”

 

“Corpses!”  He grabbed her wrist to keep her hand suspended in the air, away from his face.

 

She tried not to smile, but failed.  “Don’t trust me?”

 

“I don’t know if I should answer that while you’re holding a sharp object.”

 

“I was a med student once, you know.  Prepping a patient for surgery is just the type of grunt work they love to give first years on rotation.  I never had any complaints.”

 

Hesitantly, he let go of her wrist.  Of course he knew she wouldn’t hurt him.  It was the intimacy of the act that gave him pause.  He didn’t know how should could be so cool and steady when she touched him.  If he had his hand at her throat, thumb and forefinger pressed to the back of her jaw like she did now, he would be trembling.

 

“Turn to the right a little,” she said, guiding his head into a slight tilt with the press of her thumb.  When she had him where she wanted him, she put her hand on his head to hold him steady and then made the first pass with the razor where his sideburns ended to the curve of his jaw.

 

He kept his eyes on her face, so concentrated and determined.  Her tongue came out to sweep across her bottom lip every so often and he tried not to let his gaze linger too long on her mouth, lest he get caught.  Her hand stayed on his head, fingers deep in his hair even as she twisted to rinse the razor in the sink after every pass over his face. He took her subtle, unspoken cues to push his chin forward or stretch his upper lip down when she was ready for either area.

 

She was a little more than halfway done when her eyes finally shifted and met his.  He gazed up at her adoringly, fully aware that it was written all over his face just how much he was enjoying this.  Her lips parted as though she was about to speak and then her eyes darted back down to his chin. With her next stroke of the razor, she nicked him at the cleft in his chin.  The sudden sting made him wince slightly and her fingers tightened in his hair.

 

“Dammit,” she whispered, turning to quickly to drop the razor in the sink.  “I’m sorry.”

 

“Happens all the time.”  He watched her rip a section of toilet paper from the roll next to him, chuckling to himself when it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing.  “Just the corner.”

 

“What?”

 

“Just take the corner off.  Small piece.”

 

“Oh.”  She pulled the corner of the paper from the rest of the scrap in her hand and he nodded.  The confident look she’d had earlier disappeared as her hand hovered by his chin. He waited for her to do something, but she just stared at his chin.  

 

“Need help?” he asked.

 

“No, it’s just…”

 

“Doesn’t hurt.”

 

After a few more moments of hesitation, Scully turned and found the washcloth she’d used on him earlier and dabbed at his chin.  She then carefully placed the little dot of paper onto the knicked spot with her thumb. She threw the remainder of paper away and dropped the washcloth back on the sink.  Her hand went to her head again, but she didn’t have the razor.

 

Mulder reached up and tugged a little at the hem of her sweater.  “You’re not going to let me go with a half shaved face are you?” he asked.

 

“Oh.”  She shook her head slightly like she was coming out of a trance.

 

The concentrated look came back over her and she finished shaving the rest of his face with slow and steady strokes.  Once again, she wiped away bits of remaining cream with the washcloth and then he reached up to feel the smoothness of his cheeks.

 

“I wouldn’t quit your day job or anything,” he said.  “But, well done.”

 

“Aftershave?”

 

“Behind you.”

 

Mulder had to close his eyes again when Scully patted his cheeks with Polo Sport.  He very nearly leaned closer when she stepped away and wiped her hands with the damp washcloth.  She stood between his knees and put a finger under his chin to lift his face, inspecting her work.  He took a deep breath. She smelled like him and somewhere deep in a primal sector of his brain, he felt wholly possessive of her in that moment.

 

“Scully,” he said, sliding his good arm around her hips.  His immobile shoulder ached to do the same.

 

“Yeah?”  Her reply was slow in coming, voice wary, but she slid his hand to his neck and her nails scratched lightly at his nape.

 

“Would it be alright if I wished you a happy new year again?”

 

She cocked her head quizzically, but a few moments later when she caught on to his meaning, she straightened and her eyes bounced back and forth between his mouth and his stare.  Suddenly she became flustered and fiddled with the strap on his sling.

 

“Does this need to be loosened?” she asked.  “Is it too tight?”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

She focused completely and unnecessarily on his sling until he tapped his fingers against her hip to urge her to stop.  She went still, her hands resting gently on his shoulders. When she raised her eyes to his, her cheeks darkened into a rosy shade of embarrassment.

 

“Why?” she asked.

 

“Because I’ve been having some very unpartnerly feelings about you for awhile and I can do better than what I gave you last night.”

 

“Mulder…”  She looked away and bit licked at the top curve of her mouth.  “How unpartnerly?”

 

“Ones that would probably get me written up by HR if I tell you.” 

 

“So why are you telling me now?”

 

“A new millennium seems like the perfect place to start something else new.”

 

“I already told you, 2001 is the actual start of the millennium.”

 

Mulder scoffed a little and tipped his head back.  Scully cupped the back of his head and touched his cheek.  She leaned closer and he tightened his arm around her.

 

“I can do better too,” she whispered, as her mouth descended onto his.

 

As though they were both stunned to find themselves in a sudden liplock, both inhaled swiftly through the nose and opened their mouths to each other.  Mulder groaned in both joy and frustration when their tongues slid over one another. He wanted to be able to put his arms around her (both of them), but he was restricted by the throbbing in his shoulder and the sling pinning him in place.

 

Scully broke away and held her forehead to Mulder’s, her nose pressed comfortably inside the pocket between his nose and cheek.  Her ragged breath mingled with his.

 

“Have you been having unpartnerly thoughts as well?” he rasped.

 

“You’re not the only one that could make HR blush.”

 

Mulder leaned back to look at her.  She wore a neutral expression, but the swift rise and fall of her chest indicated that perhaps she felt as exhilarated and frightened as he did.  He moved his thumb up to stroke her hip and, just grazing a wisp of bare skin along the waistband of her jeans. Her mouth fell open as she sucked in a breath and his chest swelled as he held his.

 

“I brought bagels,” she whispered.

 

“I saw them,” he whispered back.

 

“We could have breakfast.”

 

“And then?”

 

“See where the day takes us?”

 

“You think it might lead to more of...this?” he asked, nuzzling the underside of her jaw.  “Before the ‘actual’ millennium?”

 

“Are you admitting that I’m right?”

 

“Does it turn you on at all?”

 

A smile bloomed on Scully’s face and then she chuckled.  “That’s for me to know and you to find out, Agent Mulder.”

 

If it was possible to die of happiness and feel one’s soul leave their body, it happened to Mulder.  That smile, that flirty tone, that look in her eye, it made him feel he was about to have a very good millennium (or almost millennium, depending on who you asked) indeed.

 

The End


End file.
